All in the Family

As New York magazine recently gushed, this year's Whitney Biennial, perhaps unwittingly, involves social networking. And with the ADAA just finished, and the Berlin Biennial and Armory just around the corner, it would have been foolish for curators Henriette Huldisch and Shamim Momin to avoid making some MySpace requests along the way. This year's Biennial roster is a testament to the art fair circuit, the Lower East Side, and social in-breeding of the art world -- but "social networking" is a curious and perhaps disappointing tag, as none of the artists included are under 30, and so came of age in a less technology-crazed time.

Criticism aside, the Biennial is a reflection of the dysfunctional family that is American art, and as with any family reunion, once you enter its airspace, you regress into archaic roles of age, gender, class and sexuality -- like the institutional critique guy, or the aged photorealist. There must be at least one male artist from the mythic downtown party set, a few brainy girls (also downtown, but they party less and collaborate more, or they wouldn't be taken seriously) and someone who makes recycling fun. It's not so much a fault of the Biennial as it is a fault with America. Anyway, families make for good entertainment.

Some highlights:

THE HISTORIC GAY WHITE MALE: William E. Jones

The Whitney Biennial always has room for one historic white gay male (see Kenneth Anger, 2006), and this year is no exception. Like Anger, Jones happens to be one of the best of his generation, splicing together vintage gay pornography in ways nostalgic and revelatory of their pervasiveness in contemporary pop culture -- put on Jones' rose colored glasses and everything begins to look like gay porn.

THE CRAFTERS: Amanda Ross-Ho, Agathe Snow, Rashawn Griffin, MK Guth

Admittedly a somewhat open category, particularly as the most-hyped entry comes from a crafter not exhibiting craft. In spite of the paper flowers, in spite of the kooky mumblings, Agathe Snow's performances are about pain -- primarily the pain of fame and the pain of being a girl. Snow's 96-hour dance marathon culminates in the huge barrel-vaulted hall on March 15. Prizes (we hear big, charity prizes) will reward endurance. Ross-Ho, from Chicago by way of Los Angeles, constructs beautiful childlike works from found images; Griffin's work is tactile and addictive; MK Guth makes craft political. I would generally put Gang Gang Dance in this category, because of Lizzi Bougatsos' typically stunning installations, but here they contribute a DVD -- not crafty.

THE CRYPTIC LOWER EAST SIDE COLLECTIVE: Dexter Sinister

Usurping Reena Spaulings' throne is the text-based partnership of Stuart Bailey and David Reinfurt. Adored by book-art devotees, the pair, who opened shop on Ludlow St. last year, invited 25 other artists to write press releases, to be distributed at the Park Avenue Armory.

THE COLLABORATORS: Leslie Hewitt/William Cordova and Amy Granat/Drew Heitzler

Amy Granat and Drew Heitzler present T.S.O.Y.W., the work I most anticipate for this Biennial. Conflating the works of Goethe and Genet (and with the input of Olivier Mosset and 2006 artist Steve Parrino), the piece is about impossible love, a motorcycle, and the freedom of the open road. Hewitt and Cordova (Yale students, another category -- too obvious!) look to a collection of bootleg political films.

THE GRANDES DAMES: Karen Kilimnik, Sherrie Levine, Coco Fusco, Louise Lawler

Sherrie Levine is a national treasure -- a natural treasure who would resent such an empty title and demand intellectual engagement. Wait, weren't each of these very prominent mid-career artists already featured in a million biennials? No --because they're women.